Vending-machine.



C. E. MORRIS.

VENDING MACHINE.

APPLIGATIONIILED AUG. 26, 1907.

Patented Sept. 15, 1908.

5 SHEETS-SHEET l.

C. E. MORRIS.

VENDING MACHINE.

APPLIGATION FILED AUG. ze, 1907.

Patented .Sept 15, 1908.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

C. E. MORRIS. VENDING MACHINE. APPLIGATION FILED AUG. 26, 1907.

Patented Sept. 15, 1908.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

C. E. MORRIS. VENDING MACHINE. APPLIGATION FILED AUG. 26, 1907.

Patented Sept. 15, 1908.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

l U. E. MORRIS.

VENDING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 26, 1907.

Patented Sept. 15, 1908.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

vending narran STATES Parar ortica.

CHARLES E. MORRIS, yOF LANE, KANSAS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO THOMAS D.MORROW,

OF LANE, KANSAS.

vENDINa-Macnmn.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 15, 1908.

T o all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES E. MORRIS, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, and a resident of Lane, Franklin county, Kansas, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Vending-Machines, of which thefollowing is a speciiication.

The main objects of this invention are to provide an improved form ofvending apparatus suitable for being coin controlled and adapted todeliver cartridges and at the same time operate a pneumaticallycontrolled device, such as the gun lock in `my-co-p'ending applicationfor patent on shooting galleries, li ed October l1, 1906, Serial No.338,485; to provide improved means for insuring positive delivery of apredetermined number of articles at each operation' of the machine whenthe articles are placed in the machine in bulk without being carefullystacked; to provide a device of this class in which the articlesprevious to delivery are automatically arranged one above the other onend in a discharge chute and in which, at each operation of themechanism for discharging articles from said chute, a' quantityin excessof the number discharged will be delivered to the uper end of saidchute; and to provide suita means for returning to thestora e receptacleall articles which do not roper y enter said discharge chute whendllive'red thereto. These objects are accomplished by the device showninthe accompanying drawin s in which igure is a front elevation, partlyin section and lartly broken away, of a cartridge achine constructedaccording to this invention and illustrating the relation of the partswhen the o erating lever is in its depressed osition. Fig. 2 is acorresponding views owing the parts in their normal position. Fig. 3 isva rear elevation of the same showin the general arran ement ofthe checkcontro led operating mec anismin its normal or initial osition, someparts of the casing and frame eing partly broken away.

Fig. 4 is a view corresponding to Fig. 3, but y showing the operatinglever depressed, and the other parts in re ative positions correspondingto this position of said lever. lFig'. 5 is an end elevationillustrating the general arrangement ,of the artsin a 'plane transverse`to the planes ot Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive,'

the casing bein in section. Fig.' 6 isla sectional detail of t e coinpocket inthe .trip arm article delivery chute.

which controls the operation of the device.` Fig. 7 is a similar viewshowing the same at the instant when the coin is released. Fig. 8 is aperspective view of the'movable ho per section which guides the articlesfalling "rom the storage receptacle to the upper end of the Fig. 9 is adetail of the latch dog whichholds the coin trip against a secondmovement until the operating lever returns to its initial iosition. Fig.10 is a detail showing one of' the ositions of the ratchet pawl and itsdog. 4ig. 11 is an end elevation showing the relation of the lugs of theratchet awl 20with those on. the coin trip 12 and Sie rack 19.' Fig. 12is a detail, showing, in bottom plan, the counting wheel and coinreleasing pawl. Fig. 13 is a detail,

vvshowing the'shape of the upper edge of the wall 75.

dn the construction shown in the drawings, the casing 1 is subdivided bythe partitionf, the article storage and delivery mechanismbeing in thecompartment 3 at one side of said partition and the check controlledmechanism being at the other side in the compartment 4', Fig. 5.

The device comprises an article storage receptacle 6 in which a quantityof'cartridges is storedvin bulk, a cartridge delivery chute '7 in whichthe cartridges are arranged on end one above the other, mechanism fordischarging cartridges from the receptacle 6, and causing them to fallinto the upper'end ofthe discharge chute 7, mechanism for deliveringcartridges in succession from the article chute, mechanism for returningto the reter the article chute or which are in excess of the numberrequired to fill it, an air bulb 8 connected by alle-Xiblc tube 9 withthe gun, as in my said copending application, and check controlledmechanism for o erating the cartridge delivery device and at t e sametime com ressing the bulb 8 to unlock the firing mechanism of' the n. xThe check controlle shown is made the subject of a copendin applicationfiled August 22nd, 1907, Seria No. 389,695, and therefore not claimedherein. .The check controlled mechanism is fully described in my saidcopending application andwill be hereinl described only with sufiicientclearness to give a clear understanding of the complete machine. Y

The coin chute is shown at l@ and its slug Vceptacle cartridges whichfailto properly enlos detecting mechanism is indicated at 11 in Figs. 1and 2. The coin trip lever 12 is pivotally. mounted at 13 in thesupporting frame and has a coin pocket or seat 14, at its end inposition to be in line with the delivery -end of the coin chute 10, whenthe arm 12 is in the position shown in Fig. 3. v The arm 12 iscounterbalanced by a weight 15 so that it will normally return to theposition shownin Fig. 3 but will be caused to swing downto the positionsshown by dotted .lines inV said r'igure when a coin oi suitable weightis seated in the pocketv14. The operating lever 16 is pivotally mountedin the supportln frame at 17 and extends outward through t e casingwhereit is rovided with a handle 1 8 which is prefere. ly inthe form ofa short- I' knob suitable to be' pressed by the thumb,

I' 30 into and out of engagement with the teeth on but kso close to thefront of the casing as to render'it diicult to `strike it a sharp blowand possibly cause injury-to the mechanism within.

The operating lever arm 16 is provided with a rack sector 19 havingthereon a series ofteeth ada ted to he engaged by a double pointed paw20 to contro t e movement of the lever 16, as will. hereinafter appear.The pawl 20 is vmounted upon the same pivot 13 whichcarriesthe arm 12.The point-21 of the pawl 20 is sodisposed as to be movable the rack 19,so' as to prevent the downward movement of the operating lever 16., andthel point 22 oi said pawl is so `disposed'as to pre vent 'a returnmovement of said lever. The awl 20 is rovided with .an arm 2 3 lying ina )different p ane from the points 21 and 22 and adaptedto be engaged hya pair of studs 24 and 25 on the arm 12. A spring pressed dog 26 ispivotallyl mounted on a pin 27-on the supporting hame and is 'oisuitable form to en age the pawl 2.0 and hold it yieldingly in eit erofits two operating positions. The dogh26 is `normally urged intoengagement wit the pawl 20 hy means oi the spr'm 28. When the dog- 26holds the point-21 o the pawl 20 in engagementfwith the rack 19, itengages said pawl as shown in Fig. 4 and 'when the oint 22 is inengagement with the rack 19, t e dog 26 engages .the pawl 20 by hookingover the point 29, as shown in Fig. 10. When the'lever 16 is shifteddown to the position shown in Fig. 4, the stop 30 on the rear side ofthe rackv 19engages the arm 23 of the pawl 29; and said arm, throughengagement with the stud 25 on the trip arm 12, swings said trip armback toits normal position as in Fig. 4, re ardless or' whether there'isa coin' seated in t' e pocket 14 or not. The rack 19 is partly brokenaway in Fig. 4

so as to show the relation ci the stop 30 with said arm, -said viewillustrating the position of the parts at the instant after the arm 12is returned to itsinitial osition and while the lever 16 is still at thewer end of its stroke.

.its lowered position.

The-lever 16 is connected by a link 31 with a bent lever 32, which isfulcrumed at 33 and one arm of which is connected with a tension spring34 which normally urges the operating lever 16 u wardly to its normalinitialposition as in Fig. 3. i

When the parts are in the position shown lin Fig. 4, .downward movementof the trip arm 12 is prevented by means of the awl 35, which normallyfalls by gravity to t e position shown in Fig. 4, so as to engage thestud 36 on thearm 12 and prevent suchdownY ward movement'of said arm.The pawl 35 has a downwardly extending tail 37 which is engaged bythelever 16 when in its normal position and lifts the pawl -35 out ofengagee ment with the stud 36 so as to permit the arm 12 to freely swingdown under the weight of a coinin the pocket 14.

T e coin chute is provided with a shutter 38 which is carried by an arm39 pivoted at 40. The shutter 38 is ymovable into and outl of a slot 41in the coin chute and, through enagement with the counterweight 15, is-

lowered position, as shown by dotted lines in v Fig. 3.

The construction of the coin pocket 14 is best seen from Figs. 3, 4, 6and 7. The

u .per part ofthe pocket is open so that tile coins may readil fall intoit from the chute which the coin may fall when the yarm is in "Thebalancing of thearm 12 issuch that any coin of suitable character andpro ortion which passes the coin detecting mec anism inthe coinchutefwill, on entering the pocket, cause thearm 12 to swing down to theosition shown by dotted lines in Fig. 3. his causes the stud 25 to swingn ward into engagement with the arm 23 o 'the f awl 20, and to rock saidpawl so as to re ease the tooth 21'from engagement with the ratchetteeth and throw the oint 22 into such en-l gagement. This position ofthe pawl is shown in Fig. 16. .This movement-of the pawl 20 releases thearm 16 so that the operator may freely depress said arm. As soon as thearm 16 moves out of engagement with the tail 43 of the pawl 26, said awlis thrown down by the spring 28 into t e position shown in Fig. 10, andit then yieldingly urges the tooth 22 of the pawl" 20 into ena ementwith the rack teeth. The dog 26 ods the pawl 2O in this osition untilthe lever 16 has been depresse( to the limit of its downward movement,as shown in Fig. 4. Just before the operating lever 16 reaches itsdownward limit, the lug 36 engages the arm.

10. The edgeka so has an opening through roo out of eng-agement with thestud 71'.

tapes 4. The operatiii lever 16is then free to be lifted to its initiaposition by the spring 34. As the pawl 20 is rocked by the lug 30 duringthe latter art of the downward stroke of the lever 16, the arm 23 ofsaid awl engages the stud 25 and lifts the arm 12 back to its initialposition as in Fig. 4.

The device for releasing the gun lock consists of an air bulb 8 confinedin a pocket 61, having one wall in the form of a pivoted flap 62,adapted to swing inward against the bulb for compressin it. The bulb isconnected by a flexible tu e 63y with the gun lock (not shown). In orderto suddenly contract the bulb, so as to insure perfect operation of thegun release, a trip hammer 64 is provided for swinging the ap 62. Thishammer comprises a bar slidably mounted on a pin 65 on a depending arm66 extending downward from the operating lever 16. The bar 64 is urgedinto the position shown in Fig. 4 with respect to the arm 66 by means ofa spring 67 which'extends between the stud 68 on the bar 64 and another69 on the arm 66. The spring 67 also urges the end of the bar 64 whichis at the left of Fig. 4 upward, so that when the lever 16 is in itsnormal initial position, the parts will be in the position shown in Fig.3 and a shoulder 7 0 of the bar 64 will be brought into engagement withthe stud 71. When ythe operating lever 16 is swung downward the pin 65swings over toward the right-hand end of the slot 72 and as soon as thestud 73 on the link 31 engages the upper edge of the bar 64 it forcesthe shoulder 70 The spring 67 then suddenly throws the bar 64 toward theright,.compressing the bulb 8 and causing the impulse in the air whichreleases the gun lock. The lifting of the operating lever after theaction ofthe spring 34 returns the bar 64 to its normal initialposition.

The cartridge delivery apparatusy comprises the storage receptacle 6,Fig. 2, and has a throat .74 extendi downwardly toward one side so as tocon uct the cartridges against the inclined wall 75. verticallyreciprocating slide member 76 moves upwardly along said wall and its topsurface isof sufficient area to carry upward and discharge over the topof the wall 75 a pluralit of cartridges at each upward movement of t emem ber 76. Movement is imparted to the member 76 through a' ball andsocket connection at 79. The member 76 is connected by a link 8() with asector 81 pivotally mounted on the same stud 33, which carries the bentlever 32 hereinbefore mentioned and is rigidly connected therewith at32. The member 76 therefore moves up and down once with each operationof the operating arm 16. The cartridges which fall over the wall areconducted by means of a trough-shaped memberor hopper 82 into thearticle `chute 7. This chute is vertically disposed and is of suitablesizeto hold a series of cartridges on end, one resting upon the other.When the l'parts are in the normal position of rest shown in Fig. 2, atransversely extending lip 84 of the sector 81 closes the lower end ofthe article chute 7 as is shown. in Fig. 2 and the sector 81 is in theposition there shown. The downward movement of the operating lever 16swings the sector 81 to the position shown in Fig. 1, lifting the member76. The lip 84 is now moved away from the bottom end of the articlechute 7 land allows the nearest cartridge to fall into the deliverychute 83 which is in alinement with the chute 7 and extends to a pocketin the outside of the casmg.

The discharge of more than one cartridge is prevented by a pin 85 whichenters a hole in the side of the chute 7, being normally urged acrossthe chute 7 by a spring 86. An .extension of this spring is engaged bythe edge of the lip 84. when the parts are in the position shown in.Fig. 2 and withdraws the pin 85 as shown. The hopper 82 is pivctallymounted at 87 and is connected by a link 88 with an arm 89 looselymounted on the stud 78 and normally urged upward by a spring '90. Thearm 89 normallyholds the hopper 82 in the position shown in Fig. 1 butas the member 76 descends after having discharged cartridges over thewall 75 a shoulder 91 on said member 76 engages the arm 89 as in Fig.

2, so as to cause the hopper 82 to tilt and,

discharge into the chute 93 any cartridges which have failedl to enterthe article chute'7.

The chute 93 conducts them to a bucket 94.

This bucket is carried by an arm 95 pivoted at 96 on a horizontal axisand connected by a link 97 with the sector 8].. When the parts are intheir normal initial positionhereinbefore described, the bucket 94 is inthe position shown in Fig. 2. When the operating lever 16 is depressed,the swinging of the sec` more than one cartridge at a time over the`wall 75, it is insured that cartridges are supplied to the articlechute 7 more rapidly than they are discharged therefrom and sa1d chuteis accordingly always kept full as long as there are cartridges in themachine.

' The o eration of the device shownis as follows.: hen a coin isinserted into the coin chute it falls into the pocket 14 and its .wei htcauses the arm 12 to swing down to its owest osition when the coin isspilled out. The alance weight 15 on the arm 12 holds the arm in itslowered position, as al ready described, until the operator swlngs 4downthe operating lever 16. The downward movement of the operating lever 16carries the stud 73 into engagement with the arm 64,*re'leasing said armfrom the stud 71 whereupon the spring 67 vforces the arm 64 against theflap 62 and compresses the bulb 8 and releases the gun. The samedownward movement of the lever 16 brings the cartridge deliverymechanism into the position shown in Fig. 1, the member 76 moving upwardand discharging a number of carJ tridges over the wall 75, causing themto fall into the article delivery chute 7, the lip 84 moving to one sideso as to open the lower end of the chute 7 and permit a cartridge tofall therefrom, and the arm 95lifting the bucket Q4 so as to dischargeits contents into the hopper 6. The bucket 94 returns to its normalinitial position as in Fig. 2 before the hopper 82 is swung back. intoposition for discharging its contents into said bucket through theengagement of the shoulder 91 With the arm 89, as described.

The upper edge of the wall 75 is longitudinally inclined With respect tothe up er end of the member 76, as in lFig. 13. This causes thecartridges in falling over the to of the wall 75 to be turned so thatthey fa endwise into the hopper. p

The speciiic form oi' check operated mechanism, herein illustrated, isfully described and claimed in my copending' application. AA doubleacting dash pot 100 is connected with the operating lever 16 to preventa violent movement of said lever in either direction. The device is alsoprovided with reg istering mechanism indicated at 101 in Figs. 3 and 4which counts the operations of the operating lever. lt' desired theregister may be inclosed by a separate casing within the other so as toprevent a person who has access to the main casing from having access tothe register. The register casing is not shown in the drawings.

What l claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patentis 1. In a vending machine, the combination of an article receptacle,means for dischar ing articles from said receptacle, an artic e chutefor delivering the articles in succession, a hopper ada ted to guidearticles between said receptace and chute, mechanism for causing saidhopper to discharge toward one side such articles as fail to enter saidchute, and mechanism for returning to said receptacle they articles sodischarged Vfrom said hopper. Y i

2. The combination of an article receptacle having a contracted throat,a reciprocating member movable across said throat for successivelydischarging articles therefrom, an article chute for delivering articlesso discharged. and having an open mouth at its u per end, mechanism fordischarging artic es at the lower end of said chute, said reciprocatingmem ber being adapted to deliver articles to said chute at a greaterrate than said articles are discharged therefrom, and

mechanism for returning to said receptacle articles which fail to entersaid article chute.

3. The combination of an article storage receptacle, a vertically disosed article chute having an open upper en mean's 'for deliveringarticles from said article receptacle to the upper end of said chute,mechanism for discharging articles from said chute, said means beingoperated through the operationof said mechanism and at each operationadapted to discharge from said storage receptacle a number of articlesin excess of the number discharged from said chute, and means forreturningto said storage receptacle articles which are dischargedtherefrom when said article chute is full.

4. Ina vending machine, the combination support a series of articlesendwise one above the other, a movable hopper mounted at the upper endof said chute and ada ted to direct such articles endwise into saichute, said hopper being movable toward one side of said chute forvdischarging such of its contents as fail to enter said chute, mechanism`for alternately shiftin said hopper into and out 'of alinement Wit saidchute, and mechanism adapted to receive the articles discharged fromsaid hop er when out of alinement with said chute an to return sucharticles to said hopper when the same has returned to alinementwith saidchute. y.

6. In a vending machine, the combination of a vertically disposedarticle chute ada ted ,to support a plurality of articles one a ove theother, a hopper mounted at the upper end of said chute for guidingarticles thereto and movable into and out of alinement therewith,mechanism for intermittently movin vsaid hopper into and out ofalinement Wit said chute, intermittently operative means for dischargingarticles from said rece tacle to said hop er when said hopper is in ainement with sai chute, and means iorreturning to said receptaclearticles discharged from said hopper when the same is out of alinementwith said chute.

7. In a vending machine, the combination of an article chute adapted tosu porta series of similar articles one above t e other, a hoppermounted at the u per end of said chute for guiding articles tlhereto andmovable into and out of alinement with said chute, an article storagereceptacle mounted above and at one side of said hopper andhaving adownwardly disposed discharge throat, an inclined Wall extending acrosssaid throat and normally ada ted to prevent the discharge of articlestherefrom, a reciprocatin member mounted near said Wall and adapte ateach-operation to discharge articles from said throat past said Wall,mechanism controlling the movement of said hopper and ada ted toholdvthe same in alinement With sai chute during the dischar ing oeration of said member and adapte to s ift the same out of alinementwith said chute during the intervals between successive dischargingoperations of said memberand' mechanism for returning to said receptaclethe articles which are discharged toward one side of said article chuteby said hop er.

8. In a vending mac ine, the combination ofan article chute `adapted tosupport a plurality of oblong articles on end one above the other,mechanism for discharging articles in succession from said chute, ahopper mounted at the upper end of said chute and adapted to guidearticles into said chute and being movable into and out of alinementWith said chute, mechanism controlled by the operation of said articledischarging mechanism and adapted to deliver to said hopper at eachoperation of said discharging mechanism a number of articles in excessof the number discharged by said discharging mechanism at -such oeration, mechanism coacting With said artic e delivering mechanism andadapted to shift said hopper toward one side for dischargin its contents'away from said chute during t e intervals between lthe successiveoperations ofrsaid delivering mechanism.

. `9. In..a ven-din machine, the combination of an article c ute adaptedto support a plurality of oblong articles on end one above the other,mechanism for discharging articles insuccession from said chute, amovable ho per mounted at the upper end of said c ute and having thereina trough shaped passage `for guiding articles into said chute, saidpassage being suitably shaped and disposed to cause the articles to bedelivered endwise into said chute, means coact ing With said dischargingmechanism, and adapted lto deliver to said hopper at eachv operation ofsaid discharging mechanism a uantity of articles in excess of the numberischarged by said discharging mechanism at such operation, and mechanismcoacting with said discharging mechanism for shifting said hopper todischarge therefrom such articles as fail to enter said chute.

10. The combination of a vertically disposed article chute open at itsupper end, a opper pivotally mounted at the upper end of said chute andadapted to be swunginto and out of alinement With said chute, means forsupplying a plurality of articles to said hopper, and mechanism adaptedto receive articles discharged by said hopper When out of alinement withsaid chute and return said articles to vsaid article supplying means. v

11. In a vending machine, the lcombination of a vertically disposedarticle chute adapted to hold a series of oblong articles on end oneabove the other and being open at its upper end, a ho per at the upperend of said article chute or guiding articles into the same, a Wall atone side of said hopper, an article receptacle having a discharge throatfor deliverin articles against said Wall, a slide movab e along saidWall and adapted to force the adjacent articles over the upper edgethereof, said upper edge of the Wall beingA inclined longitudinally Withrespect to the upper surface of said slide, so as to cause articlesfalling over it to fall endwise into said hopper.

12. In a vending machine, the combination of a receptacle for holding aquantity of oblong articles, a discharge throat extending toward oneside from said receptacle, a vertically disposed wall adapted tonormally prevent the discharge of articles from said throat, a membermovable along said Walland adapted to lift articles from said throat,and dischargeV them over the top of said Wall, the adjacent Wall andmember eing inclined s ongitudinally in op osite directions and adaptedto cause artic es to be turned so as to fall endwise over said Wall.

Signed at Lane, this 21 day of August,

CHARLES' E. MORRIS. Witnesses:

JOHN C. Loox, WALTER D. CALDWELL.

parts of the to s of said.

